


Now or Never

by adorebughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Riverdale, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 16:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12730476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorebughead/pseuds/adorebughead
Summary: Almost two weeks after Betty and Jughead break up, a surprising visitor provides some truths and perspective in the midst of a war between the Northside and the Southside. Can the Romeo and Juliet of Riverdale hop on a motorcycle and get their happily ever after? Or is time just not on their side? A oneshot inspired by the Pop's scene in 2x05.





	Now or Never

One week and five days.

That was how long it had been since they had seen each other. Since their relationship had fallen apart for reasons beyond their control. Simultaneously the longest and shortest period of time Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones had ever endured in their whole entire lives.

Twelve days. Two hundred and eighty eight hours and counting. The ticking of the clock was suffocating her. Her own four walls now nothing more than a prison that she had allowed herself to be confined to.

When she had finally come clean to her parents and the sheriff about the black hood, it didn’t take long for it to leak to the entirety of the town. She had spent days on end in the police station providing all of the evidence that she could, so much so that she felt completely and utterly drained of all life. The situation was out of her hands now, but that didn’t mean its repercussions weren’t still being felt like a crippling weight upon her shoulders that she just could not shift.

She needed to see him. She needed to make things right.

The opportunity hadn’t arose since the fallout had happened; she was practically on house arrest from the get go, and the distance was tearing her apart piece by piece. Southsiders and Northsiders had been practically forbidden from conversing in any way, shape, or form. It was almost as if it was a crime to do so. Of course, she had been thinking of him. She could barely think of anything else. But she had to put up a front, she had to rebuild the walls. How else could she possibly survive this? Who was to say he wanted anything to do with her at all?

Naturally, when she found out that Jughead had become a serpent, and that he and Toni had shared a kiss, it felt like somebody had punched her in the gut. The news had come to her just under a week after it had happened and, in fact, it was under the strangest and most surprising circumstances. Toni herself had showed up at the Cooper household late one evening, careful not to be seen amidst the brewing Northside and Southside war, being the last person on earth that Betty had expected to lay eyes on upon answering a firm knock on the door; her signature pink hair and leather jacket lit up by the dim light on the porch.

“Toni?” She questioned quietly, the name falling out of her mouth with a bitter taste as she stole a glance behind her to make sure her mother was out of sight and narrowing the gap in the doorway.

“Betty,” she replied awkwardly, the usual hostility in her voice nowhere to be found. In fact, she looked ashamed of the tension she had initially created between the two of them, and in a way Betty had never seen her before. Vulnerable. “I’m sorry it’s late.”

“Is Jughead ok?” She asked immediately, concerned for his safety, forever playing over the worst case scenarios in her head now that he was permanently on the Southside, and feeling her pulse quicken at just the thought of something happening to him.

“Yes,” she replied, looking around nervously, “well, no. He’s not. Not really.”

Betty said nothing in response, instead allowing an expression of anxiety mixed with confusion to create a veil over her face. She wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself as the cool air prompted goosebumps to raise. Toni had really taken a risk coming to her house, let alone the Northside at all, and who was to say Betty had even been the one answering the door at all? Whatever this was, she had to hear her out.

“Can we go somewhere to talk?”

She was hesitant at first, her eyes darting around the emptied road, before nodding and very quietly shutting her front door. The two of them walked briskly to a park bench down the street and out of the way, making sure there was nobody around who could see or hear them. There was a brief silence when they sat down, the both of them unsure of how to act around one another. It occurred to the both of them that they had never actually been alone with one another before. It was alien.

Then, almost like a domino effect, Toni opened her mouth and everything just poured out.

Jughead joining the serpents, her influence, the initiation, the kiss. How, although he momentarily kissed her back, the kiss was instigated by her, almost out of nothing but curiosity in a moment of confusion and meaningless impulsion, and how they both agreed soon after that neither of them felt anything whatsoever. Toni wasn’t Betty. That was it. Pure and simple. How he so desperately wanted to tell her everything, to talk to her himself, but he was terrified. It was all there, all laid out before her. The truth. He didn't even know that Toni was there.

Betty was stunned for a few moments, unsure as to which emotion to let seep in first. She had said nothing, not a single word; just listened. Sure, she was hurt to some extent, but it wasn’t that which overwhelmed her. Her heart ached for him. She wanted to hold him and kiss his wounds and tell him that she loved him and that she wanted to fight for him. _For them_. She wanted that more than anything, even if she didn’t want to want it. She wondered if he wanted that, too.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” She asked eventually, her voice nothing but a cracked whisper as she swallowed, desperately trying not to cry.

“Because,” Toni replied, as if it was the simplest answer in the world, “he’s in love with you.”

She looked up then, the words hitting her in a way they hadn’t done before. Of course, she knew that he loved her, but with every force in the universe trying to pry them apart, it felt as though they were beginning to admit defeat, and being able to hear those words reignited something inside of her. Hope. An opening to fix what had been broken, if only the smallest.

“And,” she continued, “If he isn’t going to get off his ass and finally come and tell you that, then I guess somebody had to give him a head start. Even if that somebody is me.”

Betty frowned, her gaze diverting to her hands in her lap as she felt a lump appear in her throat. “I don’t know how we can be together. This war between the Southside and the Northside-“

“It’s happening whether we like it or not,” Toni interjected, biting her lip, “we can’t help what we were born into. But I don’t hate you, Betty, and I certainly care about Jughead. So, whatever your next move is, make sure to do it fast.”

Betty furrowed her brows, interlacing her fingers together as a nervous tick. “Why would you risk coming here?”

Toni’s voice was sad but sure. The air wasn’t as cold as she’d first thought.

“Because,” she replied, “it’s the right thing to do.”

She looked back up and finally nodded, exhaling deeply. Perhaps she shouldn’t have trusted Toni but for some reason, in that moment, she did. Whatever had come before, this was genuine. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she just did. It was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew would never lie to her.

When they parted from one another, there was something there. Not quite forgiveness, but a sense of understanding, if only just a flicker. Almost like the calm before the storm. They exchanged a nod, well aware of what was to come with being on opposing sides of the town, but this was something else. This was them as human beings; almost unlikely fleeting allies before unwillingly turning to enemies. If only slightly, and if only for one night on an isolated park bench, doing what was right.

She wanted to talk to Jughead more than anything she had ever wanted in her life, more than just a desire, but an all-consuming longing; she just didn’t know how to do it. And she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to look him in the eye just to lose him again. She didn't know what was right. So, she panicked. And she stalled.

And when his name appeared on her phone screen at midnight five days after her encounter with Toni, she almost forgot how to breathe. Six words. Nothing more. Everything turned into a blur.

**_Jughead (00.02): Please meet me at the trailer._ **

Her heart was pounding against her chest as soon as she saw it. She had been reading, desperately trying to concentrate but instead going over the same sentence again and again and again. Her mind was elsewhere. With him, as it always was. She contemplated replying, even calling, asking him if he was ok, desperate just to hear his voice. But she didn’t. Instead, she opened up her bedroom window with hardly even a second thought, the tap of his fingers on the glass just a distant memory now, and she climbed out. She didn’t even close it after her. And she did something she had never dreamed of doing before. She ran, with no intention of turning back around.

It didn’t take long to get to the trailer park. At least, not as long as she’d remembered in the past. The streets were eerily quiet, as if nobody was around, like everyone was waiting for something to erupt. The inevitable war right on the tips of their tongue. She was panting, having not even picked up her phone in the mad rush out of the house, her eyes falling upon the trailer she had visited so many times before. The place where he told her he loved her. The place where his lips had met her skin.

Almost instantly, she saw a silhouette that she could’ve recognised absolutely anywhere. Her breath caught in her throat as her entire body froze. There he was. Outside. Waiting. And here was she.

He was leaning against his motorcycle, pulling himself upright when he saw her, his face completely changing. They stayed still for a while, just staring at one another. They were nervous. In fact, both of their hearts felt like they were about to lunge out of their chests. They had imagined this scenario so many times, playing it over in their heads, wondering what they would say and what they would do. Now that it was here, they were lost for words. She slowly began to close the space between them before she could even stop herself, instinctively cautious with every step, and he didn’t dare move an inch, just watching her get closer and closer. Absolutely no intention of stopping her.

In almost nothing more than a blink, they were so close that they could feel each other’s breath on their faces. She was still panting, although it was beginning to slow. Without even a second thought, she reached out and grazed a cut, one of many, perched above his lip, before allowing her hand to run over every bruise and scrape across the skin of the face had memorised like the back of her hand. He closed his eyes as she did so, wincing ever so slightly at the pain. When they reopened, hers were searching his in desperation as both of their gazes softened.

There was so much to say, but for a little while, their eyes conveyed more than any language could possibly capture. He reached up after a few moments, softly touching her hand that now fell down to his chest, feeling his hastening heart beat through his shirt in rhythm with her own.

“I’ve missed you,” she breathed finally, a tear finding its way down her cheek.

His gaze dropped at the heart breaking tragedy of her simple confession, still holding her hand in his.

“I’m sorry,” he managed, his mouth dry, still refusing to look back up in the fear of everything. The fear of fear itself. The fear of losing the love of his life a second time.

She gently touched his jaw, slowly raising his head so that his eyes would naturally meet hers like two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly into place.

“It’s ok,” she whispered, smiling through her tears, “it’s ok.”

“I messed up.”

She swallowed, shaking her head and fluttering his heart with a smile. “Me, too.”

Jughead allowed his eyes to run over every freckle on her face, the ones that he had joined like constellations on more occasions than one. The only face he saw, and the only face he ever wanted to see. He lifted a hand and gently wiped away the remnants of tears on her cheek.

“God,” he breathed, “I love you so much.”

Listening to nothing other than her gut, she grabbed onto the collar of his leather jacket and surged her lips against his, melting into him as another tear rolled down her cheek. He pulled her closer by the waist, all of the longing and desire and desperation pouring out and closing the gap between them that had been lingering, empty, desperate to be filled. The kiss that knocked the others out of the park.

This was it. This was everything.

They broke away from one another slowly after a long moment, their lips parting like the very first kiss in her bedroom all of those months ago when things were simpler; soft, beautiful; the start of something beyond anything they could’ve ever imagined. So quick, so passionate, now so gentle and so sweet. She rested her forehead against his and felt his warm breath intertwine with her own, drinking each other in, their eyes flickering open once more.

“I’m leaving,” he said almost instantly, so quietly and so low that she thought she might have misheard him.

“What?”

“I’m leaving Riverdale.”

She pulled away slightly and took a moment to study his face, furrowing her brows and trying to digest exactly what he was saying, before her eyes switched to the sight of his duffel bag on the floor beside him. Everything began to click rather quickly. He meant it. He was saying good-bye.

“You’re- you’re what?”

“Come with me.”

Her head was racing. Those three words so unexpected, yet exciting and terrifying and just as wrong as right. Everything Betty Cooper shouldn’t do, yet everything she yearned for. Her heart was in her throat. He wasn't saying good-bye at all. In fact, it was the opposite.

“Wh- now?”  
  
“I know we’re going to have to work at this,” he said, “but I want to. I want to do this. With you.”

His eyes were burning into hers in a way they hadn’t done before, taking her back to their last conversation in Pop’s all of those weeks ago. Talking about running away, never truly believing it was something they could actually do. Deep down knowing that there was nothing they wanted more.

“Jug-“

“Elizabeth!?”

The sound of her name coming from afar paired with headlights and the flash of blue from the sheriff’s car caused her to quip her head around in a panic. They hadn’t seen her yet, but they were soon about to. Her mom must've heard her leave, and she must've known where she was going. Her breath quickened as she turned back, the weight of how little time they had crushing down on their perfect moment. There was no time to second guess, no time to pack a bag or say good-bye. This was it. Now or never.

Suddenly, there was only one answer. The only answer there ever had been, and ever would be, and it was dripping from her lips with the sweetest taste.

“Ok.”

“Ok?”

“Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?”

Her lip quivered as she reached for his hand once more, holding on so tightly and so desperately. She nodded, interlacing their fingers together.

“I’m sure that I love you.”

He struggled to catch his breath, his face mirroring that of when they'd first said they'd loved each other just a few paces away from where they were stood right now. So few sunsets had passed since then, yet so many all at once. How strange, the concept of time. How we long for more, and waste that of which we already have. He kissed her again. Their bodies fitting together so perfectly, so drawn to each other’s magnetic field as though it was the most natural thing on the planet. The sky was the clearest she’d ever seen it. And in the depth of a November night, a night as pitch as black, Betty Cooper had said all that she needed to say.

Hopping onto Jughead Jones’ motorcycle, with nothing but the clothes on her back, securing her helmet and wrapping her arms around his torso. Resting her cheek against his back and shutting her eyes as he started up the engine, drowning out the calling of her name, the thought of her mom, the serpents, the black hood, everything that was approaching, before almost instantly receding. She looked back, just for a split second, her eyes meeting her mother's who had now stepped out of the car, and she liked to think that she understood. That she'd forgive her, in time. And perhaps, just maybe, she would.

Twelve days now down to just a few seconds. They were here, but they were gone. The Romeo and Juliet of Riverdale, closing the page on a beautiful tragedy, to make room for the ending they deserved. Barely any money or plans or ideas of where they were going. Still undecided new names, places, explorations, identities and faces. But none of it mattered; not really.

Because, for now, they were drenched in moonlight, a beanie and a blonde ponytail fading into the night, and fading, falling, flying, into forever.

And that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! I've never written a oneshot before so I apologise if this is perhaps a little messy, but I tried. Go easy on me... I'm my own worst critic! This whole thing is inspired by Betty and Jughead's conversation in Pop's in 2x05 and the events that occur afterwards. I hope you enjoy & I hope it keeps you going through this horrendous temporary break up. If only the show could really go this way, huh? <3


End file.
